Colorado House: Jackson County House, Home

Colorado House, USA : Jackson County Residence

American rural property project – design by Turnbull Griffin Haesloop, United States

Aug 10, 2010

Northern Colorado House

Jackson County, Colorado, USA

Design: Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Architects

North Colorado Residence

Located on a working cattle ranch, this Colorado site is spectacular, a plateau at eight thousand feet with stands of aspen and distant views to Steamboat Springs. The clients wanted a small house with cozy spaces that could also weather the tough winter conditions of Northern Colorado. In response, Turnbull Griffin Haesloop designed a house that, while compact, offered a spatial experience and addressed the expansive scale of the landscape.

The house is sited at the edge of an aspen grove, preserving the sweep of the meadow and simultaneously allowing broad views out to the distant mountain ranges. Two ancillary buildings – a garage and small guest house – form a linear compound that edges the aspens.

To keep the house compact, the plan is organized as a series of rectangles set inside one another, creating distinct spaces within and between each rectangle. The outer layer, delineated by the roof and stone plinth of the house, forms the protected area for indoor and outdoor living. Under the big roof, the enclosed house is a small square that occupies the center, with a generous covered entry area to the east and a large protected outdoor room to the west.

Within the structure, two white-washed wooden cubes define the interior living spaces; one cube contains the pantry, the other a staircase to the second floor. The cubes reach through and connect the two halves of the second floor, allowing southern light to wash down to the lower floor and creating a larger spatial experience within the smaller scale of the living spaces.